I think that LKH has fallen into the trap of thinking that "the characters have sex....a lot....in many different pairings, positions, and locations," is a sufficient plot.

nods.

Silly woman.

I wonder where all the hot women go, in the Blakeverse. Cause for all these men to be so beautiful and Anita to be the only XX worth boinking doesn't make any sense at all. And the ardeur is completely involuntary yet only responds to A Penis. Must be the Xander Harris theory "Nothing can defeat the Penis!"-

I read Obsidian Butterfly first, and thought it was really good, and was quite disappointed with the other three books in that series I tried.

Obsidian Butterfly was so far above the ones right before it and all those since that it's almost like it was written by someone else. And her day job is fascinating. In one of the last two, it's like you're reading two different books, one about a bunch of murders and one about the pack and the vamps and all.

Totally agree on the obnoxiousness of every other woman but Anita being an utter twit and generally hating Anita on top of it all. I'll probably scan the next one in the library rather than bothering to buy it. I sent all my copies--other than Obsidian -- to Deena.

I'm having trouble seeing her as not being a Mary Sue.

I think Jacqueline Kirby is more a Mary Sue that Elizabeth Peters might want to be. I can't call Amelia a Mary Sue, because Peters is herself an Egyptologist.

What's really funny is when you scan the reviewers pages of either Peters' books or Barbara Michaels' books (Michaels being Peters' gothic romance alter ego) and you see Michaels reviewing Peters' books and vice versa. Or when both of them are reviewing someone else's book (a Pratchett, I think).

Hagrid is one of the characters who reminds us that the wizarding world is dangerous, and that, despite what many wizards think, other beings in the world don't necessarily look upon magical humans as the apex of evolution (remember the fountain at the Ministry of Magic, and the prejudice against half-breeds like Hagrid and Lupin). It's a wonderful world of magic, but it's no fairy tale- and although Hagrid is a polarizing force, I think he shows what lies between good and evil. For example, many of the "creatures" which are introduced via Hagrid are dangerous, but not necessarily evil- the centaurs, the giant spiders, and the hippogriffs. As the books go on, and become darker in tone, these shades of gray become essential to keep the stories multi-dimensional. Of the other things that do this, one is the Imperiatus curse (IIRC- that is the one that makes others do your will)- with Voldemort at large, it is hard to tell who is truly evil, and who is being controlled, in no uncertain terms, by evil.

How much do I love Fay reading Elizabeth Peters while having her own Egyptian adventure?

I'm almost done with Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. I'm loving it. Of course, I'm a total sucker for "small" history books like this, books that deal with the minutiae of everyday life rather than the epic actions of princes and generals. Also I love natural history. All the same, Winchester's gotten much better at splitting his sensationalism and random points out from the main focus of the book. They are still in there, and it's clearly a little difficult for him to stay on target, but he gives it a manful try.

Cause for all these men to be so beautiful and Anita to be the only XX worth boinking doesn't make any sense at all.

nods again

Although she does describe women in similarly sexual terms - when she introduces a new female character she generally describes their figure in depth, including size of breasts, which may be a characteristic of Jackie Collins-type literature, I don't know, but it seems rather loaded. I mean, homophobic though she clearly is, Anita seems to be checking the girls out. (I'm expecting that LKH is eventually going to give Anita some girl-on-girl action, once she's got past her own squick - the books seem to me to show LKH's personal squick zones shifting fairly rapidly.)

And the ardeur is completely involuntary yet only responds to A Penis.

Yep. The ardeur - it's just - gah! Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid badfic nonsense! Damn it! Cheesy plot device! ...there are many annoying things about these books. Many. But, yes, I do like the notion of Anita being an Animator, I like Animators Inc, I like that she talks in hard boiled prose most of the time and that she describes her guns so lovingly.

I think Jacqueline Kirby is more a Mary Sue that Elizabeth Peters might want to be.

Ah. Haven't read those books yet. May give them a try, though.

I can't call Amelia a Mary Sue, because Peters is herself an Egyptologist.

Which, twinned with the pictures of Peters dressed as Amelia, would be more liable to make her a Mary Sue, imho - but I don't think Amelia reads as a Mary Sue for the simple reason that we're often encouraged to laugh (affectionately) at her. Peters pokes fun at Amelia, and shows us her weaknesses and her unreliability as a narrator. I think that undercuts any Mary Sue-ishness.

I'm now more than half way through Silhouette in Scarlet and it's definitely an improvement on the first Vicky Bliss book, but I'm not finding it compelling in the way that the Amelia books are. There's a lot more irony in those books - a lot more moments when the gateway character interprets matters one way, and the reader interprets them in a different way. Which is fun.

Also - Hagrid's not Ms Goodall! shakes head. He is clearly and most definitely the Wizarding World's answer to Steve Irwin. His love for all bitey poisonous critters is a deep and tender love, and he regards their vicious and blood-thirsty snappings and thrashings as nothing more than evidence that they're 'A grumpy little fella'

OMG - Fay this is it! Exactly. No wonder ita cannot stand him. He only needs to marry Rita Skeeter and have her publicize his adventures with magical creatures with some sort of tv show. (On a Wizarding Channel, of course.)

Coincidentally I started Krakatoa on the bus this morning. He is quite the digresser, isn't he! It's a vast change in pace from Seabiscuit, which raced along. This is a meander.